Kay Graham's story is the gold standard for anyone in politics, business or the public arena who wants to recount life's lessons in autobiographical form. Though she was born into privilege and achieved renown on her own, she recounts her youth, her family life and her days running the Washington Post in a modest, at times even humble, manner. She is bracingly candid about the suicide in 1963 of her husband, Philip, who had been in charge of her family's paper, and about her resulting struggle to embark on a late career in the male-dominated realm of newspapering. And she is fascinating when describing the decisions that went into publishing the Pentagon Papers and investigating Watergate. "Personal History" is essential reading for anyone who loves a life story wonderfully told, particularly one as consequential in the culture and politics of our times as this one.
Choreographer Twyla Tharp's study of creativity isn't just engaging reading--it's an antidote to writer's block, stalled projects set against hard deadlines or any life situation where you need a jolt of out-of-the-box thinking. The book, a sleeper success, has been embraced by many corporations for management study. Tharp has taken her message on the lecture circuit as well, with stops that have included Georgia Pacific, NASA and my own magazine group at Hearst, where she was inspiring as she talked about the correlations between choreography and real-life problem solving. "Action will wake you," she advises, because "once the blood gets moving, ideas will come." My favorite lines are about the importance of naoveti, which she sees as a great advantage. Tharp renames it "forever the child" or "the ability to not know." She writes: "You do not know that failure can hurt, or even that you can fail." Not a bad state of mind, in work and in life.
In "Winning," the former chief executive of General Electric and his wife offer business advice in a straightforward, down-to-earth style. The book feels like a private session with one of the great leaders of American business. Jack Welch describes his own experiences at GE, but he expands on them, turning a business memoir into an invaluable guide to building and managing a business. ("If a company has been through enough change programs, employees consider you like gas pains. You'll go away if they just wait long enough.") Welch also offers a road map to personal success at every career stage, defines the qualities of a good manager, advises how to handle crises--and, not least, provides first-rate advice on maintaining a work-life balance.
Whether you're an executive assistant or a chief executive, time management is crucial--and no one explains how to organize your time better than Julie Morgenstern. Some of her advice may seem hard to swallow: Don't multitask, for one, and, as the title instructs us, don't read email in the morning. Impossible! Or so you think. As she points out, email is a serious distraction, especially for people who feel the need to respond immediately. Some email-free time in the morning--permitting you to concentrate on other tasks--can be a blessing. Morgenstern's tips are easy both to understand and to remember. There are her four D's (delete, delay, delegate, diminish) and, my favorite, "Dance Close to the Revenue Line"--that is, assign priorities to your tasks based on their importance to your business. Morgenstern believes, as I do, that to function at work at the highest possible level you must have a life outside the office, so be strict about the value you put on your time--particularly by refusing to allow others to waste it.
Although written nearly two decades ago, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" offers a message that has not lost any of its power: You will flourish by concentrating on the aspects of life that you can control rather than by reacting to external forces. The seven "habits" covered in the book may seem so simple as to be obvious ("Be Proactive," "Put First Things First," etc.), but Stephen Covey weaves them into a principle-based philosophy that emphasizes the importance of relying on your own character and intrinsic beliefs as you pursue any goal. I've found that even if you're able to take onboard only a couple of the book's seven habits, you will still notice their beneficial effect on life both in and out of the office.